Natasha Post

Virtue Ethics-Aristotle Book 2, Chapter 1

It is from the same causes and by the same means that every virtue is both

produced and destroyed, and similarly every art; for it is from playing the lyre that

both good and bad lyre-players are produced. And the corresponding statement

is true of builders and of all the rest; men will be good or bad builders as a result

of building well or badly. For if this were not so, there would have been no need

of a teacher, but all men would have been born good or bad at their craft. This,

then, is the case with the virtues also; by doing the acts that we do in our

transactions with other men we become just or unjust, and by doing the acts that

we do in the presence of danger, and being habituated to feel fear or confidence,

we become brave or cowardly. The same is true of appetites and feelings of

anger; some men become temperate and good-tempered, others self-indulgent

and irascible, by behaving in one way or the other in the appropriate

circumstances. Thus, in one word, states of character arise out of like activities.

This is why the activities we exhibit must be of a certain kind; it is because the

states of character correspond to the differences between these. It makes no

small difference, then, whether we form habits of one kind or of another from our

very youth; it makes a very great difference, or rather all the difference.

Aristotle. (1931)

The initial thought that comes to mind is the old saying of practice makes perfect. With constant repetition and consistency, we build our skills-such as the lyre player or builder, as well as our moral character. In the examples provided, perhaps the lyre player or builder were bad because they hadn't honed in on the necessary form or process to be good at their craft-yet. Perhaps the builder was sloppy and didn't measure things properly, but just guessed or eyed where to place a nail or to cut, rather than a builder who was more methodical and meticulous, drawing out plans, marking their cuts etc. Both essentially become the way they are, albeit having good skills or poor ones by the repeated nature of how they do things. Which in turn brings the point about teachers-this is not to say you're innately good or bad, but that perhaps you've just picked up on poor habits that need to be rectified. The teacher can instill good habits and practices to correct one's course of action. Furthermore, another point I understood was how malleable we are at such a young age, and how those good habits, or moral character are best derived from the younger years.

A part that I struggled to comprehend was when Aristotle (1931) states "This is why the activities we exhibit must be of a certain kind; it is because the states of character correspond to the differences between these." I interpret this as the latter, that it means we shape our character by the behaviors we continuously exhibit, therefore it's best to be keenly aware of how we react or respond, as we should always be striving to produce the right types of qualities that one would be proud to display.

I felt as though I understood 75-80% of the context provided. I believe he interprets words a different way than what I am accustomed to. I understand activities to mean behaviors, and transactions to mean interactions. I was not familiar with the word irascible, pronounced ih-RASS-uh-buhl, which means quick to anger, or hot tempered. He uses habits and habituated: habits meaning a behavior that you've settled into, whereas habituated is the process of what you've grown accustomed to. I also understand virtues to be the most desirable or high standard character traits an individual can possess.

Part 2

My strong ethical belief is that fair pay should be a moral obligation for society to ensure individuals are recognized and compensated for their efforts but also are able to meet their basic needs to live with dignity, in order to create a society filled with equality and opportunity. Not only does economic inequality create mass socioeconomic instability, it also diminishes equal opportunities for lower classes, and their ability to create necessary change and political reform due the overwhelming power and control that the top affluent citizens have to financially influence political decisions (Rezvani, F., et al., 2013). I would apply this to the virtue and justice aspect of Aristotle's excerpt listed above, where continuously being just or unjust is developed by practice, becomes second nature, but that creating the right kind of habits or traits (the earlier the better) can create an impactful and positive change in society.

In more understandable way , response to the post and it should be 110 words

Describe how reading or listening to the recording impacted my understanding of the Virtue Ethics text as opposed to just reading the text.